Water is the source of life for all living beings. Staying properly hydrated improves your overall health and naturally flushes out toxins from your body. While water may seem boring to some, there are ways to include water in your daily routine that also provide additional health benefits.

Fruit infused water is a popular option as it adds the sweet flavor of fruits to your water without the extra calories or fructose found in fruit juice. Fruit infused water offers a healthy array of natural antioxidants and vitamins, which is estimated by some nutritionists to be about 20% of freshly squeezed fruit juice.

Some of the health benefits of fruit infused water include:

Metabolism Boost Your metabolism is sped up by the active compounds in fruit which cases your body to burn more calories throughout the day. As an example, a glass of refreshing lemon water in the morning energizes your body and promotes fat loss.

Improve Digestion Citrus infused water helps support your digestive function and can help settle an upset stomach. Drinking water with ginger, lemon, oranges or apples will help clean your body’s digestive system and have a soothing effect on your stomach.

Satisfy Sweets Cravings Fruit infused water is naturally sweet and has only a few calories. A glass of fruit infused water will satisfy your sweet tooth making it a great choice for those looking to stay fit.

Natural Vitamin Water Nutrients leach out of the fruit into the water which provides a drink that is rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Fruit infused water is a natural and healthier alternative to store-bought “vitamin waters”.

When preparing your fruit infused water keep these tips in mind:

Temperature Cold or room temperature water is best as hot water destroys the beneficial enzymes and vitamins found in fruit.

Fresh or Frozen Fresh fruit is best but frozen fruits can be used. Frozen fruit does not release as much juice and often fall apart in your water.

Infusion Time You will want to infuse your water for about 1-2 hours at room temperature or 3-4 hours in the fridge. For a more flavorful water just infuse overnight in the fridge.

Reuse and Repurpose

You can reuse the fruit but you are going to lose flavor. If you are doing single-servings, adding additional water to your bottle when you are about halfway down will help stretch your fruit. Fruits with strong flavors, like orange and pineapple, work best for multiple infusions. Berries, melons, and fleshy fruits decompose quickly making them poor candidates for reuse. You can eat your infused fruit if you want, but they will be less flavorful than fresh fruit as most fruits become rather bland after infusing.

Fruit infused water recipes abound but you do not need to follow any specific recipes. There are no right or wrong measurements or mixtures; fruit infused water is pretty much based on taste.

For general preparation guidelines, add your fruit to your water bottle or pitcher and slightly mash the fruit to release their juices. If you are using any herbs for additional flavor you will want to bruise the leaves a bit when adding as that will release their natural extracts and oils. Then just add some water and let it sit a bit to infuse.

Use a plastic-free Meshbottle to experience the clean taste glass water bottles offer to fully enjoy the taste of your fruit infused water.